Grimsargh man sexually assaulted and smothered baby, court told

Jamie Varley, 37, is accused of killing 13-month-old Preston Davey, along with 25 other charges relating to his sexual and physical mistreatment.

Stood alongside him in the dock at Preston Crown Court was his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, who is accused of causing or allowing the death of the child and four other offences.

Both men, of Chandlers Way, Grimsargh, deny all charges.

In the final months of his brief life, the child had been routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted, suffering 40 traumatic injuries, the court heard.

His short life had “more than its share of misfortune”, being put in emergency foster care after his birth, but Preston had been a “perfectly healthy boy” before he was adopted by the defendants in April of 2023.

But he was admitted to hospital with injuries three times in just under four months after being adopted, before his death on July 27, 2023.

Preston Davey (Image: Lancashire Police)

Peter Wright KC, opening the case for the prosecution, told the jury of six women and six men: “This is inevitably a highly emotionally charged case. It’s a terrible case because it involves the death of a very, very young child.

“It is inevitable that it will provoke strong feelings in anyone who hears the details of this case.”

Varley, wearing a cream suit, open necked white shirt and shoulder length hair with blonde streaks, sat beside his co-accused, wearing a green top and jeans, in the dock, yards from Preston’s mother in the public gallery.

Preston had been born on June 16, 2022, and aged nine months in April 2023, placed with the defendants for them to adopt, living at their home on Staining Road, Blackpool.

Less than four months later, at about 6.30pm on July 27, 2023, he was brought to the Accident and Emergency Department of Blackpool Victoria Hospital by the defendants.

He was unconscious and in a state of cardiac arrest, Mr Wright told the court.

Medics tried to revive him but he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

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A post-mortem gave the cause of his death to be acute upper airways obstruction, a result either of a smothering most likely with a hand or soft fabric or by the insertion of an object or objects into his mouth.

Mr Wright continued: “As terrible as it is, this tragedy was not the result of some dreadful yet unforeseen accident, or natural phenomenon.

“The evidence gathered during the investigation into his untimely death revealed a much more sinister pathology.

“We say the evidence demonstrates that he was murdered by one of the people entrusted with his wellbeing; one of his proposed adoptive parents.

“We say the person responsible for killing Preston Davey was the defendant, Jamie Varley.”

“But that was not the only tragedy to befall him when in the care of these defendants,” the prosecutor continued.

“In the final months of his brief life, we say he was routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted.”

A post-mortem showed the child had suffered around 40 injuries over the course of the four months he was in their care, injuries including 30 external bruises, a fracture to his upper left arm and internal bruising to his mouth, throat and other parts of his body.

Varley was mostly responsible, but evidence recovered by detectives implicates both men in sexual assault – and McGowan-Fazakerley, failing to protect him, Mr Wright said.

On the day he died at the time of or shortly before the final fatal assault, Varley had sexually assaulted the baby causing internal injuries, while home alone with the child and his co-accused out at work, it was alleged.

After Varley’s arrest and mobile phone was seized, footage was found that he had recorded earlier that day of the little boy lying on a bed with physical and obvious signs of respiratory arrest, but the defendant did not attempt recovery or seek medical help.

It was only later that both defendants took Preston to hospital, by which time it was too late to save him.

While McGowan-Fazakerley was out at work when Varley fatally assaulted him, he had joint responsibility for caring for the child, had daily contact and should have been aware of what was going on and protected the youngster.

Preston Crown Court (Image: Anthony Moss)

But not only was he aware of the abuse, he participated in it, Mr Wright said.

The prosecutor warned jurors to “steel themselves” as images of the child were shown on screen, the prosecution said, after he had been sexually assaulted.

Varley had also taken a number of images and videos of the abuse, but these were not “happy snaps of family life” – but indecent images, the jury was told.

The defendants appeared to be a happy, stable couple, but that was far from the truth, Mr Wright said.

Varley denies murder, manslaughter, two counts of assault by penetration, five counts of cruelty to a child, grievous bodily harm, sexual assault of a child, 13 counts of taking indecent photos or videos of a child, one of distributing an indecent photo of a child, to his co-accused, and one of making an indecent photo.

McGowan-Fazakerley denies allowing the death of a child, three counts of child cruelty and one count of the sexual assault of a child.

The trial continues.